Hemingway’s Technique on Suspenseful Introductions

How you can use it too.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Some of my favorite writings from Ernest Hemingway aren’t in his books or his short stories. It’s his writings as a reporter.

For much of his career, he wrote for newspapers and magazines. It’s how he defined and harnessed his craft. His punchy, direct, and simplistic prose made him the legend he is today.

I enjoy reviewing these works because they are often short and packed with his early writing techniques.

We can learn a lot from Ernest Hemingway. One of them is how he started his stories and captured an audience through a suspenseful introduction.

In his article “A Free Shave” published in The Toronto Star Weekly, on March 6th, 1920, he makes something insignificant interesting for readers.

Here is an excerpt on how he starts the story:

“The true home of the free and the brave is the barber college. Everything is free there. And you have to be brave. If you want to save $5.60 a month on shaves and hair cuts go to the barber college, but take your courage with you.

“For a visit to the barber college requires, cold, naked, valor, of the man who walks clear-eyed to death. If you don’t believe it, go to the beginner’s department of the barber’s college and…